Places Matter: Perspectives on staying connected and fostering resilience from across IWBI’s global team

View the recording of our recent webcast for more on this topic - and register for updates on our complete webcast series dedicated to prevention and preparedness, resilience and recovery in relation to COVID-19.

—

The world was a different place several months ago. Stadiums roared with fans cheering their teams to victory, children played together in parks and at schools, and friends and families crowded around tables to share meals with those dearest to them.

The spread of COVID-19 has entirely redefined the way we live right now as well as our relationship to the places where we work, gather, learn, live and heal. Our collective new normal is focused on staying home, supporting healthcare professionals and first responders on the front lines, protecting vulnerable populations and, overall, keeping our communities safe to the best of our ability. But amid the uncertainty we’re faced with now, one truth has remained as powerful as ever: the places where we spend our lives have a tremendous role to play in our overall health, safety and well-being.

At IWBI, our aim is to equip our community with helpful resources, and further explore how buildings, communities and organizations can be a part of prevention and preparedness, resilience and recovery in the fight against COVID-19. Without question, those efforts must consider the current challenges on a global scale. That’s why we convened our team members across the globe in China, Europe, Australia and the U.S. to discuss their unique experiences, and to share their perspectives on how they’re keeping the WELL community and their team members connected during the ongoing pandemic.

With the initial cases detected from the Wuhan province of China, COVID-19 spread quickly throughout the country, and our team in China was first to experience its immense impacts. As China went on lockdown to flatten climbing infection rates, the local community of WELL APs and WELL Faculty sought to connect and implement strategies to help.

“There was a strong sense to connect within our market and among our clients. People wanted to understand what the WELL Building Standard is all about. They wanted to know what WELL Certified spaces were doing for them,” Yan Tai, IWBI China’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications, said. “To answer those questions, our team started by working one-on-one with clients. We hosted webcasts and developed virtual meetings reaching more than 160,000 people to educate and communicate within our market. The team addressed questions about air quality at workplaces and in high-rise apartment complexes, what clients can do to help address mental health during quarantine, and what health benefits WELL Certified projects could have when aiming to mitigate contagion risk.”

Knowing no borders, COVID-19 quickly became a global pandemic. The IWBI team focused on the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region worked to mobilize as more countries recognized the need for action.

“It takes a village. We’re a small team cut across 24 different countries, and what keeps us connected is our community’s commitment to health. We rely on our WELL APs and WELL Faculty across the community. Our team is working with more than 1,800 project teams and with more than 1,700 WELL APs to continue to support IWBI efforts across borders,” Ann Marie Aguilar, Senior Vice President, EMEA, said.

Meanwhile, in Australia, where the pandemic was still in its early phases, the local IWBI team was learning from its counterparts around the world.

“We’re approximately two weeks behind the United States and three weeks behind Italy in terms of COVID-19 impact. It’s given us the opportunity to learn from other countries as we prepare for the pandemic,” Jack Noonan, Vice President of IWBI Australia and New Zealand, said. “We’ve had countless individuals and organizations reaching out to us for practical advice. They want to understand the role buildings and workplaces can play in slowing the spread of viruses.”

Questions of effective handwashing and air quality control came to the forefront, illustrating the need for education and resources to support local communities facing COVID-19 head on. The WELL Building Standard contains features that address both issues, as well as numerous features addressing mental health, another topic of great importance and growing interest during quarantine.

As countries around the world continue to navigate the effects of COVID-19, IWBI is encouraging its community of health advocates to share experiences, ask questions and work together to explore ways to navigate the current situation and prepare for a more resilient future.

“IWBI is asking its community to let us know what else we can do. How can we stand up and deliver more information about why WELL Certified places matter?” Whitney Austin Gray, Senior Vice President of Research, said. “With the WELL Building Standard, we have the vehicle to translate our messages into action, and I’m proud to say that that standard is free and available for everyone to access.”

If you’d like to join us in our efforts, through IWBI’s new Task Force on COVID-19 and Other Respiratory Infections: Prevention and Preparedness, Resilience and Recovery, we’re bringing together renowned experts in areas of public health, medicine, design, real estate, and academia to inform new Guidelines for Prevention and Preparedness, Resilience and Recovery, and propose enhancements to the WELL Building Standard itself. Add your voice to the effort by raising your hand to participate.

You can also tune into the Places Matter webcast series which continues weekly: join the thousands that have participated live.

As we look forward to the moments when stadiums fill again, coworkers reunite at the office, and friends and family clamber together at their favorite parks and restaurants, we commit to working alongside you to define the strategies and interventions that can help us reclaim a safer and more vibrant future.